Myrl Jeffcoat

One of my favorite activities in autumn, is attending the Harvest Festival - Original Art and Craft Show, which is held at Cal Expo each year. The event presents a wonderful opportunity to view delightful crafts and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy.

I find it a great way to launch my holiday shopping. Always a great place to order personalized gifts for family and friends. . .Jewelry, and a multitude of other craft projects.

LOCATION -

Sacramento Cal Expo
1600 Exposition Blvd.
Sacramento, CA


HOURS -

Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm


PRICES -

Adults - $9.00
Seniors 62+ - $7.00
Youth - 13-17 - $4.00

Harvest Festival Website

After state budgetary woes threatened access at some of California's State Parks earlier this year, announcement of new hours for Sutter's Fort has been made.

The fort is now closed on Mondays, but all other days of the week will find it open as usual; other than on certain holidays. This is great news for Californians, and especially school children eager to learn about our rich California Gold Rush history.

In 1839, John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant acquired a land grant in the Sacramento Valley from the Mexican government. The land was used to create a growing agricultural enterprise, which Sutter named, New Helvetia (New Switzerland.) New Helvetia was Sacramento's earliest settlement and the first non-Indian settlement in California's Central Valley.

Sutter sent assistance and aid to the Donner Party In 1847. The group of immigrants had become trapped in a winter storm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Ultimately, Sutter became known for his hospitality and for providing temporary refuge to travelers. New Helvetia became the destination for many early immigrants to California.

Less than a decade after the Fort was established, gold seekers overran Sutter's properties and the Fort is all that remains of New Helvetia. It has been restored to its former state based on an 1847 map published in Darmstadt, Germany and is open daily for tours.

Open Tuesday - Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm - Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day


Admission:

Adults $5 (18 years and older)
Youth $3 (ages 6 to 17)
Children Free (5 and under)


Location-Directions

The park is located in midtown Sacramento between K and L Streets and 26th and 28th Streets.

Traveling on I-80, from San Francisco, take Business 80/Hwy 50 east. Take the Business 80 exit (north towards Reno) to the N Street turn off. Travel straight on 30th Street then turn left under the freeway at L Street to the Fort which will be located on your right.

Tuesday thru Saturday, bring quarters for the parking meters. Parking is free on Sundays.

Facilities - Opportunities
The Fort is available for private parties and gatherings for a fee.
Call for availability and information: (916) 445-4422.

A self-guided audio tour is available.

Website for California State Parks - Sutter's Fort

I know many folks think that Jack London is a man's author.  There are probably far fewer women who cozy to his words.  I am one that does!

From the first time I picked up a Jack London book, I was hooked.  Visions invoked from his artfully crafted words came to life. "The Call of the Wild" - "White Fang" - "The Sea Wolf" - They grabbed my imagination and wouldn't easily let go.

Friday evening, I fell asleep thinking a little about his wanderings in life, especially along the Valley of the Moon - in beautiful California Wine Country.

I woke early Saturday morning - Napa Sonoma Wine Country, and its Valley of the Moon, needed a visitor.

Heading north and west from Sacramento approximately 60 miles, found me arriving at the threshold of London's footsteps.  Napa, Sonoma, St. Helena and Calistoga, a perfect place to photo capture the color of the autumn leaves, and to treasure away a few special bottles of wine, for Thanksgiving dinner.

It is amazing how fall gifts Wine Country this time of year - the spectacular colors, smells, and crisp autumn air, create a dalliance of delicacy to pamper the senses.

Thinking of Wine Country immediately creates visions of glasses filled with the fine wines nurtured better in Napa Valley than most any place on earth.  Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Merlot - What are your favorites?

But Wine Country has other delights!  In Calistoga, Doc Wilkinson's Spa, is famous for its mud baths and other spa treatments; or you can simply marinate your frazzled soul in the warm mineral pools.  A special wine country weekend can take in a day of wine tasting, a stroll through the villages, a nice Italian dinner, and then off to a good night of sleep.  Begin day two by finding your way to the mud baths, a spa or the mineral pools.  By second day's end, you will be ready to face life's realities once again.

After leaving the Domaine Carneros Winery known for their sparkling wines, and its palatial location at the top of a magnificent Napa Valley hill, I traveled further along the road to Beringer Vineyards, next to the celebrated Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.  The Culinary Institute offers classes for culinary arts as well as for wine enthusiasts.  Charles Krug Winery is well placed across the road - helping make St. Helena, a powerhouse of Napa Valley wineries, and vintner mastery devoted to the grape.

Once finished with the shopping of wines, I drove to another area of the valley. Calistoga boasts its own "Old Faithful" Geyser.  Not unlike its counterpart in Yellowstone, this "Old Faithful" periodically bursts a natural fountain, on a less than predictable schedule, averaging about every 40 minutes. 

Along the road to the geyser, a slight breeze caused the colors, yellow, gold, orange, red, purple, brown and green to perform a tango on the vines without intermission.

Several Jack London quotes came to mind Saturday and applied to circumstance.  They are as follows:

• I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
  
• Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.
  
• One cannot violate the promptings of one's nature without having that nature recoil upon itself.
  
• There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond, which life cannot rise.  And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.
  
• You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Last year I was able to cross off an important entry to my "Bucket List." It was the dream of visiting Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and going on a buggy ride. The vision of such a journey had been with me for a decade or more.

A lull in family activities and business presented a perfect opportunity for me to jump on a plane, fly to Philadelphia, rent a car and make the drive out to where I could fulfill this dream.

I rose early on a Monday morning, drove from my hotel in Lancaster City, out to the Amish farm country, a few miles away. It wasn't long as I traveled along the road that I saw a little wooden sign that simply said, "Abe's Buggy Rides" nailed to a tree in front of a delightful looking house in the village of "Bird In Hand".

Hansie was the most delightful Amish buggy driver I could have hired that day. About half way through the ride, I asked him if it was ok to take his picture. Many Amish won't allow it. He appeared slightly hesitant, but then quickly agreed, while admonishing that should we approach other Amish, I should always ask to take their picture first.

During the ride, he seemed as curious about me, as I was about him, his family, his way of life. He could not believe I traveled alone, all the way from California to take a buggy ride. "Where are you from," he asked. When I responded, California, I quickly learned that he meant my ethnicity. I explained that my people were in this country in the early 1600s, and were Dutch. . .and hesitantly, I told him English too! The Amish are very distrusting of the English - but all "outsiders" are considered the English!

I don't really know how to explain to outsiders that in Lancaster County, there are curious names for their townships; "Bird In Hand" - "Intercourse" - "Virgintown" and "Blue Ball" . . . but I don't judge:-)

It was beautiful springtime weather, and even Daffy, the horse was enjoying the day! As we passed beneath the bridge, her steps made delightful music, which echoed from the walls.

I will easily remember that it was a Monday, because Monday is washday in Amish country, and lines of freshly hung laundry blew colorfully in the breeze as a testament to the day's work and accomplishment. When you dwell in a place that has a day of the week for all life's tasks - who would need calendars.

We stopped at a few Amish farms along the way. Nearly all have one cottage industry or another - Quilts, root beer, cheese, furniture, crafts, and one larger farm that had a large fence making enterprise going on.

Although many Amish don't have electrical power in their homes, they may tolerate it in their shops. I was fascinated riding down the roads, seeing power poles at the road, with no lines being connected to the houses along the way. Pennsylvania Power and Light must have a visceral disdain of those folks:-)

In the Amish village at Bird-In-Hand, they have restored the area. And the local Amish crafters and furniture builders, have furnished it. Note the price tags on the various pieces. So, once again the Amish use a simple solution of combining a museum and cottage industry together, allowing the community to flourish a bit with the talents they are so recognized for.

Near the end of the ride, Hansie asked, "Well is it everything you expected?" "No," I replied. . ."I can honestly say that it isn't - it's FAR more."

If you were to take Jackson Road-Highway 16 out of Sacramento, while traveling mostly east, but a tad south for a half hour or so, you would come upon the delightfully rural community of Sloughhouse.

Although the community is quiet and somewhat small, it does enjoy rich history.

As Sacramentans and other visitors to the area shuffle through Sloughhouse today, they often stop at the Davis Ranch Farmer's Market for ears of corn, which is prized among locals as being the best available. The area is a popular stopping off point for Sacramento County folks hoping for a pleasant drive up the highway further to Gold Rush Country. A few miles beyond Sloughhouse, you can take Highway 49 (the Gold Rush Highway), and travel on through Amador City, Sutter Creek, Jackson, and destinations beyond - making for a delightful day trip.

Sloughhouse is a verdant valley which acts as a floodplain for Deer Creek and the Cosumnes River. Prior to becoming known for its corn growing capacity, its land was mainly tended for the growth of hops. Traveling back in time a generation or so, would have you revisiting the area and finding trellises of hops growing up V shaped wires 20+ feet or so.

Early history records that on a summer evening in 1840, William Daylor, one of John Sutter's cooks became one of the first noted white men to visit the area. Daylor came upon the valley while conducting a search for some of the livestock belonging to his boss.

The area was found populated by Miwok Indians. Daylor later returned to the area with a friend, Jared Dixon Sheldon, who in 1844 acquired a Mexican land grant of approximately 20,000 acres. Sheldon had a reputation for getting along with the Indians.

For more history on the area you can click on the following link: Sloughhouse History